Katherine Hale
Inducted In
1972
Her mother’s Christian names, Katherine Hale, were chosen as the pen name of the distinguished Canadian writer and lecturer on current literature, Amelia Beers Warnock, who was born in Galt in 1874.
She attended Glen Mawr School in Toronto, studied singing in New York, and became literary editor of the Mail and Empire. In 1912 she married John Garvin, a Canadian critic.
A famous poem, Grey Knitting , and two collections of verse established her as a lyric poet. Of her prose works, This is Ontario is considered an extremely fine example of Regional writing and carried her fame far beyond the borders of her native province. Other writings included: Canadian Cities of Romance in 1923 and later Canadian Houses of Romance.
The sensitive treatment given the native legends of the regions bordering the St. Lawrence River led L’Institut Historique et Heralique of France to enroll her name on its list of Honourary Members.